Msc. Esther M. Hazelhoff

Research:

During my Bachelor my interest in light research was sparked for the first time. Following this interest I went to Basel during my Masters to study non-image forming effects of light in humans. And now, in my PhD project I will focus on the effects of light on diurnal animals, including humans. There is a lot of literature available on the effects of light, however, the majority of this research has been conducted in nocturnal animals. Recent evidence has come to light that nocturnal and diurnal clocks react fundamentally different to light, therefore new insight is needed in the working of the diurnal clock. In my project I will focus on the current light conditions in intensive care units and its effect on the patients, which is thought to have a negative effect on the patients well-being and recovery. In the diurnal Arvicanthis ansorgei I will perform in vivo and ex vivo electrophysiology and AAV vector techniques to measure the clock response to light.

Curriculum Vitae:

I studied “Life Science and Technology” at the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen and obtained my Bachelor of Science degree in 2015, majoring in “Biomedical Sciences” and “Behavioral- & Neurosciences”. After my Bachelor I was accepted into the research master “Neuroscience and Cognition” at the University of Utrecht. During this master I completed two research internships. For the first 12 months I studied reward-related feeding behavior in rats. After this first internship I went to Basel, Switzerland, for a period of 7 months to study several non-image forming effects of light in the Chronobiology lab of the University of Basel. In 2018 I obtained my Master of Science degree, and after a short detour into data management, in April 2019 I returned to the world of academia to continue my scientific career as a PhD student in the group of Johanna Meijer at the LUMC.